Kurtzman and Orci Developing Magician-Robbers Film ‘Now You See Me’

Screen Junkies caught up with writer-producers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci last night on the Saturn Awards red carpet. The duo who created "Fringe" and co-wrote Star Trek for frequent collaborator J.J. Abrams let us in on a new project they’re producing. New You See Me, scripted by Ed Ricourt and Boaz Yakin, is about a heist crew of illusionists who rob banks and are actively inviting the FBI to try and figure out how they get away with it. Regarding audience expecations for magician movies, Kurtzman told us:

Because I think the trick about a magician movie is that the movie itself has to be a magic act, which is an incredibly difficult thing to do. It requires cleverness and an intelligence. The magic act has to pay off in spades so the setup has to be brilliant and the payoff has to be brilliant.

If we’re talking Heat with magicians, I couldn’t be more all about it. I’m sure they’re going for a broader tone rather than a three-hour crime saga, but magician-robbers is definitely an enticing hook. I’m a huge fan of Christopher Nolan’s The Prestige, which finds its conflict in dueling illusionists, so imagine adding semi-automatic wands to the equation. I just naturally assume any magician-robber worth his salt would pack a semi-automatic or sawed-off double-barrel wand.